So I've finished all my uni assignments for this semester! :DAnd so this is the short period of time where I don't have to worry about assignment deadlines, and I don't have to start studying for exams.

So because I was free to go for a birthday this week, I had some time to sew my friend a present.

So my friend I've known for a long time, and I know she's into the character Cloud from Final Fantasy. Like 4 years ago or something....I drew her a cartoon version of Cloud like the one from this video.

This year for her 18th, I decided I'd sew her a mini plushie like the one I drew. One that I hoped wouldn't look as freaky as Jacob Twilight plushie... (mind you, this didn't get a 6 pack.)

Anyway, sewed this thing in 4 hours using the felt I had. The hair went slightly funny...and the eyes kinda had a bit of felt fall off - reason why one eye looks thicker than the other...haha.

He stands at 10cms tall. Just cause of his hair. Without it, he'd be about 6cm.

And no, he doesn't have a sword...Instead I put my birthday note inside his vest (I didn't really get enough time to make a sword to be honest. It was hard enough to do his hair.)

I also had to sew his shoes onto his feet cause they were so tiny. In the cartoon, he also has gloves but there was no way I was gonna put gloves on this tiny little arms.

And yeah...I was running out of yellow felt. If I had more, I would have made his hair much bigger.

Anyway, she loved the gift. Instantly recognised it was Cloud, which I'm glad she did. Otherwise if she didn't, it would be a sign that I did a crappy job.To be honest, I still haven't figured how to make adorable eyes and stuff for dolls yet....I find eyes and mouths so hard because I just have no idea how to make them cute.... I'll work on it XD

Anyway, my other sewing project was a more personal one, and one I've been meaning to complete for a while because I need more clothes for university - specially since the weather has gotten much colder. (Apparently there's suppose to be a storm tonight...Haven't heard it at all...) V neck striped jumper. I got this fabric from Spotlight back in January I think. $4 a metre - it was for clearance. The material has a bit of stretch cause it's knitted.

It comes to about hip length - I like long clothing. Quite warm to wear too. Had a bit of trouble with the way the fabric unravels since its knitted. Specially with that neckline - trying to make it sit right and not unravel further.I think that when I do wear it, I'll wear it with a belt, just to break up the stripes a bit with a square buckle.

And I tried SUPER hard to get the stripes to match. Because of that, I didn't have enough material for the sleeves. So I made cuffs. It was all good :P

Can't wait to wear it at uni now. Also can't wait for exams to finish, just so I can sew more stuff. I don't finish till Mid June so I got a bit of time to go...might just start making patterns on the side or something so I'm prepared as soon as uni break starts :P

So New Zealand, on Wednesday, you experienced "Beiber Fever"Crap, what kind of crazy tweenies do we have in New Zealand?

In the time that Justin Beiber was here for the day, fans pushed over his "mama", stole his hat for ransom, and we pushed him off a bridge (well some of us could hope, but it was a bungy off Auckland Bridge.)

And okay, so I'm not on the fans side of Beiber, but now I'm not hating him like some people who pretty much LOATHE all things JB either now. I see he is a kid, who may look like 12, and yet has to deal with nutters like hat stealers and mama pushers.

And fans that think waiting outside for Justin Beiber at 2pm is okay to do. (Talking about you Australia)

I have to say, these people who call themselves "Beliebers" are just embarrassments, and I think I feel a little bit for Justin.I mean crap, if I was ever going to be a famous popstar, and I had hundreds of twelve year old boys chasing after me, yeah I'd be creeped, and I wouldn't find it very flattering - the lengths that they go for just to even "TOUCH" the guy. *shudder*

I'm not putting JB off the hook either. I swear, calling Usher in an interview "my boy" is just as much a facepalm than anything else.Justin Beiber, for goodness sake, you're 16. Usher probably has a kid around your age. He ain't "your boy" you sad pasty white prepubescent kid.

So JB, you came, you went, you left girls crying. Next time, maybe get a cruise ship big enough to fit your nutcases, and we'll have ourselves a floating asylum. I think New Zealand will be glad enough to remove your naive, blinded, obsessed, freaky stalker fans from our shores. :)

(Suddenly, I think I have more respect for Jonas Brothers fans than his.)

Lots of thank yous to boyfriend for hooking me up with PS CS4. It's a real step up from my good old Paint Shop Pro X2, but times are changing, and my university works on Macs, so I thought upgrading was about time. (Cause, you know, I'm not keen in failing and all...)

So what's the jury say on this one?Is it me, or does it seem like some almost California coloured logo for a trashy MTV show like The Hills or something?

Its something really basic, since I haven't really learnt the full jist of all that is in Photoshop. I have no brushes other than what is loaded, and I figured out how to create the similar effects I did in PSP into PS. Though I don't know if my old PSP had glows, but they're fantastic in PS.

Oh and if you haven't noticed or realised, the city in the image is my lovely Auckland City. Isn't it pretty? Well when its not looking like the colour of a nectarine... (the real New Zealand is generally nicely blue, green, and clean I assure you :D)

Okay, so I'll admit, these photos suck. And Paramore was a slightly crappy concert. (70 minute set? Seriously?)Plus, wasn't keen at all in Jury and the Saints as the openers, especially since no one had really heard of them.

But the massive and dedicated crowd (who some waited for hours in the parking lot, in two cues that stretched a decent 200 metres each) did enjoy it as much as they could. (especially the little 12 year old girls who screamed and recorded the whole thing on their expensive cameras their dads bought them.)

Jury and the Saints: were an interesting act. Threw lettuce and sausages at the crowd, and asked that they throw coins at them.

Hayley from Paramore joined in a bit of drumming with the band, which suddenly got everyone's interest.Overall : okay act, but could have been better to pick a band that has more radio success. and is actually known. Would have prefered NZ's Ivy Lies (girl rock band), or maybe Gin Wigmore.

Paramore took a while to come on. But when they did, everyone screamed, and jumped, and the shoving began. I was standing off to the side though, so I wasn't in the deep heats of it.

Some of my complaints about the set: it was really short. And it was just SO hard to hear a word Hayley said amongst the screaming, and the fact that the place isn't made for concerts, its made for basketball games.

Also - no 'Hallelujah' played. All mainly stuff from 'Brand New Eyes' album. And really minor band/fan connections. I think only towards the end did the band move more towards the fans. Most of their time they just kept in their places.

Crowd were into it, they sung along, jumped with the beat though. Which is the most important thing. 'Decode' went OFF. You can tell which 12 year olds are Twi-hards who only liked Paramore cause of the Twilight soundtrack.And after the concert was probably the best part of the night strangely enough. Because so many of us were hot and sweaty and some wet (they sprayed water into the crowd to cool them off) a lot were just so pumped and relieved to be outside in the cool streets. People were singing to their cars Paramore songs, and no matter what kind of people they were, everyone was singing along. Then while waiting for our ride, some random crowd came up to me and my friend and took a photo of us. I imagine I would have looked terrible in that photo, but I didn't care, we were all just connected by our experience of being at a Paramore concert. And it was fantastic.

Anyway, here are the very delayed photos and review of Paramore. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the band. Just wasn't in the right space for it. Anberlin and the acts at Parachute were just so much better cause there was a greater connection with band and crowd. I just didn't get it as much this time. But hey, it was a free concert ticket :D

The girl.

NZ blogger in the middle of life, love, the world and all that inhabits it. A web addict for radio by day; a web addict in general by night. Writing about the world, travels, food, pop culture and lifestyle.